The Effects of Community-Based Service Learning on Preservice Teachers’ Beliefs About the Characteristics of Effective Science Teachers of Diverse Students

Source: Journal of Science Teacher Education, Volume 23, Issue 8, p. 889-907. December 2012.

This study aimed to investigate the effects of community-based service learning (CBSL) on preservice elementary teachers’ beliefs of the characteristics of effective science teachers of diverse students.

Using semi-structured interviews, data were collected from 74 preservice teachers enrolled in four sections of an elementary science methods course over a semester.

Findings suggest that preservice teachers who participated in CBSL developed beliefs about the characteristics of effective science teachers that are complimentary to the descriptions of effective teachers of diverse students provided in the literature.